Smoking is still a hot topic

BURBANK — A year-old ban on smoking in a wide range of public places of Burbank still has some businesses fuming as others call for an expanded ordinance that would curtail cigarette smoke throughout the city.

The Burbank City Council passed the anti-smoking law by a vote of 3 to 2 on March 27, 2007, and enacted the ban on May 12, 2007, though police did not begin ticketing offenders until August to allow time for the ordinance to sink in while signs and advertisements alerted smokers about a possible fine.

Since August, at least 550 people have been cited for smoking in downtown and in other parts of the city where smoking is forbidden, including on Chandler Bikeway and within 20 feet of all entrances and exits of an outdoor service area, which is any nonresidence throughout the city, according to Sgt. Travis Irving of the Burbank Police Department.

In the five months the anti-smoking ordinance was enforced last year, 301 people were cited and, from January to April this year, at least 249 people were ticketed and fined between $50 and $200, he said.

“We average close to 60 a month, but it hasn’t made us short-staffed,” Irving said. “It’s another law in the books, like thousands of others.”

When the ordinance was passed in 2007, Councilman David Gordon and then-Councilman Dave Golonski voted against the measure.

Gordon tied his opposition, in part, to concerns that the ordinance would hamper businesses in Burbank, particularly along San Fernando Boulevard downtown, where many of the 550 citations have been issued.

And a year since its passage, at least one store is still feeling the sting of decreased customers due in large part to the bill against smoking.

“Business is about 20% down since last year,” said Gary Acizyan, owner of Newsstand Etc., at 316 N. San Fernando Blvd. “I’m not saying it’s entirely because of [the ban], but people come and get ticketed and don’t come back to Burbank.”

Acizyan called for designated smoking areas to be established downtown, which the ordinance called for but city officials have not yet created.

That leaves Acizyan worried that Burbank is turning a blind eye to businesses that depend on sales from smokers.

“The city promised designated areas, and they decided to forget that,” he said.

Others, including Romancing the Bean owner Kerry Krull, said the ordinance has engendered ill will toward the city.